New Regional Partnership Launches $100 Million Fund to Preserve Affordable Housing Near MARTA Transit Stations

The Greater Atlanta Transit Oriented Affordable Housing Preservation Fund will help protect low-income tenants from displacement and keep neighborhoods affordable

News provided by

National Equity Fund

Jan 05, 2021, 11:34 ET

ATLANTA, Jan. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, National Equity Fund, Inc. (NEF), Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) and Morgan Stanley announced the launch of the $100 million Greater Atlanta Transit Oriented Affordable Housing Preservation Fund (the Fund). The Fund will provide financing to multi-family property owners to help low-income families and individuals stay in their homes, and not be displaced as rents increase in transit-rich neighborhoods throughout the Greater Atlanta metropolitan area.

"We are proud to support the partnership between NEF and Morgan Stanley in the formation of this fund that will protect and preserve affordable housing within a mile radius of MARTA's heavy rail stations," said MARTA General Manager and CEO Jeffrey Parker. "The ground-up development of new affordable units takes time, and we wanted to do more in the short term to help. Supporting this effort to preserve affordable units right now makes sense."

The Fund will provide acquisition capital for multi-family affordable housing developments near or beyond the end of their initial tax credit compliance period; affordable housing properties that operate under the HUD Section 8 or other federal programs; as well as projects with no current rent restrictions that will become restricted upon acquisition. The Fund will provide high-LTV non-recourse first mortgage debt to finance the acquisition or repositioning of projects in targeted MARTA transit-oriented districts.

"We are excited to work with NEF and MARTA on this important initiative to deploy capital to help preserve affordable homes throughout the Greater Atlanta region," said Mike Mantle, Managing Director, Head of Community Development Finance at Morgan Stanley.

NEF is the Fund manager, with Morgan Stanley as the sole investor in the Fund. Loans made by the Fund to finance the acquisition and recapitalization of affordable housing projects for up to a 7-year holding period that is expected to terminate upon the refinancing or tax credit re-syndication of the project.

Potential uses are as follows:

Acquire real estate
Pay off an existing first mortgage
Restructure existing gap financing
General partner acquisition of limited partner interests
Invest in minor capital improvements

"Affordable housing is critical to the well-being of families and communities," said Matt Reilein, NEF President and CEO. "We're proud to be part of this important effort to make sure Atlantans can afford to live near public transportation and connect to jobs they might otherwise not be able to access. This fund is about investing in the city's future."

To learn more about the Fund, please contact Scott Zeigler from National Equity Fund at [email protected].

About NEF
National Equity Fund, Inc., based in Chicago, is a leading nonprofit investor and lender in affordable housing and one of the nation's largest syndicators of federal Low Income Housing Tax Credits. Since 1987, NEF has invested $17 billion in 2,800 developments, supporting more than 187,000 affordable homes and fueling more than 228,400 jobs nationwide. NEF is an affiliate of the nonprofit Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) and has made more than $180 million in grants to support LISC's broad-based community investment efforts throughout the country. For more information, visit www.nefinc.org

Media Contacts:
Colleen Mulcahy, for NEF
312-342-8244
[email protected]

SOURCE National Equity Fund